Antibiotics for a cut off toe???

[sillycmoy]

So my poor 6 week old chick ripped part of her toe off last night, just hanging on by a tendon. Today we decided after people saying we should just cut it off, and reading other posts, we decided to just cut it off, surprised that she didn't scream, and there was no bleeding. Last night I soaked it good in warm water, and put tons of Neosporin, and bandage. Today I did the same after cutting it off, because it was just literally hanging off by the tendon. Poor girl. She seems just fine, she's pretty mad about being by herself in a wire dog crate in the house. But she is eating, drinking, and even getting up on her perch in the crate to sleep.

My question is, do I need to give her any antibiotics, and where can I go buy them at? I'm totally new and have seen posts of antibiotics in the water and stuff.

I'm sure she will recover, and I just need to find a way of them not digging around the chicken wire right there so it doesn't happen again.

Guess it would be good to also learn what I should have on hand for stuff like this. I was surprised to find her like this last night. They are in an enclosed chicken run with 1 inch chicken wire. Never thought they could rip their toes apart on the chicken wire, but it was more I think the way she got it stuck I think. I was heartbroken last night that I wasn't there sooner to help her.

Thanks

 

[farmtotable]

Personally I wouldn't put her on antibiotics unless there's some sign of infection, like pus leaking out from the bandage, or if her other toes/foot feels warm to the touch or swollen. But that's just my opinion. It sounds like you cleaned it well and took proper care of it! For what it's worth, I've had a duck with a traumatic head injury from a mink attack, and when it got infected it I just squeezed it until there was no more yucky stuff, cleaned it with soap and water, and monitored it until it healed. He was fine, and I never used any antibiotics. I'm not a huge fan of using them on my flock, just because I'm not a vet and I don't want to add to any "super bugs" by dosing them improperly.

 

[Natural Mama]

I am a technician at a practice that sees lots of birds, I agree that I wouldn't use antibiotics unless it starts to look infected. If antibiotics were indicated we would use Baytril and topical Silvadene. It's a good idea to have a relationship with a vet and see if they will let you keep this stuff on hand in case of emergency as well as some metacam for pain. I am often amazed at how well birds seem to deal with pain.

 

[sillycmoy]

Thanks, I feel horrible that it even happened, and I feel like it was totally my fault, I thought my run was totally safe. Today when we decided to cut it off, which I hope was the right decision, but it literally wasn't touching anything, and was just hanging on by the white string looking thing that everyone said was a tendon. It never bled, after I did get brave enough to say, Okay, lets cut it off. and I was surprised on how well she did. Its not hot or swollen earlier today, but she actually still has the bandage on, she ripped the one off last night 3 times within 10 minutes.

Do you think I should leave it bandaged, and change it a few times a day. Is there something better that I can put on it besides the non-pain reliever neosporin? I just feel so horrible that it happened, that I told my husband that maybe I'm not cut out to be a chicken mom, he said just wait till they are free ranging they will for sure do something to hurt themselves somewhere in the yard. Which made me think that our yard isn't even safe for my 2 year old. LOL.

As for the Vet, I actually do dog rescue, and I know several Vets very good. But not sure if any of them do anything with birds. But there are a few exotic Vets up in the city that deal with birds. I guess if she starts looking funny I will have to take her in, I just didn't know if there was something I could give her, since others are posting about stuff they have on hand, and stuff they put in water and such that you get from a feed store. Someone recommended putting Honey in her water, but never said how much.

Thanks everyone, I hope I did what I should have done with her.

 

[Natural Mama]

Don't feel bad. Stuff like this happens to everyone. My first day with my chicks I went into the mountains for the day. When I got home they had manages to scratch out all of their water and had impacted crops.

Keep it bandaged, change the bandage every other day to every 3 days. I don't care for neosporin with birds because the petroleum gums up their feathers and is a bear to get out. You can use a little honey on the wound. Honey is a fantastic antibacterial, antifungal etc. Then ask one of your dog vets for some silvadene. They should be able to get liquid metacam (1.5mg/ml) for you too because lots of practices give it to cats and small dogs. Liquid baytril has to be compounded to 30mg/ml. Perhaps they would be willing to call in a script for that for you too. Elasticon is a great bandage material and sticks like crazy.

The wound is going to be a bit warm even without an infection because of the trauma. It should heal up fine though.

Invest in an exotic formulary that tells you the dosing of medications. It will be very helpful! Vet hospitals use one written by James W. Carpenter.

You will do just fine with chickens, don't sweat it!
Hilary